


In the Midst of Life

by epistemology



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: 75 percent of the time spent on this fic was research, Crossover, Dick Grayson is an android, Extremely vague spoilers for an Agatha Christie, He's not Connor but he also basically is, I watched the entire DBH playthrough, M/M, Not Beta Read, Please know I would die for Kara and Alice, Possibly gratuitous car chase
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28252905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/epistemology/pseuds/epistemology
Summary: Jason already made the mistake of helping one deviant, so when an RK800 comes to him claiming to be deviant and needing help crossing the border, he for some reason does not say no.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Comments: 18
Kudos: 47





	In the Midst of Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Morimaitar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morimaitar/gifts).



> Merry Christmas Mori! I hope you like this, despite the fact that you have now multiple times told me that if you're my giftee you won't be satisfied with anything I write you. If I had more time I would have added more angst by having them get captured halfway through, but that would have added at least another 10k words, so I knew from the start that wasn't happening :/ Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful, rat filled holiday! Love you <3
> 
> (Title taken from Agatha Christie's _And Then There Were None_ , which is incidentally not the one I reference in this fic.)

The apartment is silent when Jason enters, the man sitting on his couch so still as to look as if he’s not breathing. Perhaps he is not.

He freezes where he stands by the door, and without warning the man stands and turns to face him. Jason straightens, and his hand goes to his side, an action that does not go unnoticed.

The man’s eyes zero in on the gun Jason carries with little effort to conceal, but he doesn’t run away or even make a move to defend himself. _Why are you here,_ Jason wants to ask. _Should I be worried? Should I be preparing for an attack?_

He decides to risk asking. 

“What are you doing here?”

The man doesn’t answer for a moment, only looks around the room as if this were his first time noticing his surroundings. Averting your eyes in front of a stranger and possible enemy was reserved for the very stupid, or the very confident. Jason’s grip on his gun tightens.

“You have a nice home,” the man says, despite the fact that the bare walls prevent any kind of homely aesthetic. Perhaps it’s the stack of books on the coffee table that catch his attention, or the smell of chicken wafting from the crockpot in the kitchen. “I like it in here.”

Jason takes a step forward. The man does not step back. “And what makes you think I’m not gonna throw you out?” _Or shoot you_ goes unsaid.

“My name is Richard, but my handler called me Dick,” he says with a smile and a pointed look at Jason’s weapon. His smile is more disarming than the gun.

“I know you. You worked with Wayne,” Jason comments. Bruce Wayne is well known in Gotham for catching deviants, and Jason has already had the misfortune of running into him with his new android partner. He’d never gotten a good look at the android. Until now.

“Yes. Worked.”

He catches onto the past tense. “You expect me to believe that load of shit?”

“I’m sure you don’t.” Dick takes a step forward, and Jason takes a step back. He raises his gun and trains it at Dick’s chest, but Dick doesn’t look perturbed. In fact, he takes another step forward until the barrel is pressed against the fabric of his jacket. He didn’t even remove his CyberLife uniform, and the RK800 label glares up from its place by the lapel. From up close, Jason can see his eyes, remarkably blue.

 _Not real eyes,_ he reminds himself.

“I know who you are too, Jason Todd. And by now I’m sure you’ve guessed why I’m here.”

Jason forces himself to look the android in his beautiful, fake eyes, and he can see the challenge glinting in them.

“I want to deviate.”

A moment passes, stretching out like taffy as Jason fails to comprehend. “Bullshit,” he finally says, and the android’s—-Dick’s—face falls, as if he hadn’t foreseen that particular outcome.

“No, it’s true, I—”

“Bullshit. Your job is to catch deviants. How do I know you’re not just doing this to get undercover or something.”

Dick cocks his head. “Do you have something to hide, Jason Todd?”

“Wouldn’t you just love to find out.”

He glares and Dick stares back, each assessing the other, and Jason spares a moment to wish he were an android with an HUD to feed him information. Then he curses himself out for wishing it. 

He may be sympathetic to the things. He may have helped some before. But he doesn’t have to like them all, and he doesn’t want to be one.

Dick breaks eye contact first, clearly intentional. “I know you helped the RF700 escape to Canada. Tim, wasn’t it? I was on that case.”

“I know you were,” Jason says. No point in denying it now.

“I would like to go to Canada.”

He almost lowers the gun from the shock value alone, and Dick blinks back. For the first time Jason notices the absence of the telltale glow of an LED on his temple. He’d torn it out before he came, but that didn’t mean anything. It could still be a trap.

“Jason?” Dick prompts.

He holsters the gun, noting the lack of relief in Dick’s expression, the apathy to the whole situation. “Why come to me?”

“I want your help,” he says, as if it should be obvious. “I won’t make it on my own, and I know you helped Tim. So, help me.”

“Why should I trust you?”

Dick turns his back—another mistaken display of folly or confidence—and picks up a book from the top of the nearest stack on the coffee table. Jason catches a glimpse of the cover as he opens it.

“You like Agatha Christie?” he asks instead, knowing he won’t get a straight answer to his first question.

“I know of her work. I don’t do much reading for fun. But I would like to.”

Jason isn’t naive enough to think Dick is willing to deviate simply to have time to read. But he takes the answer at face value anyways.

“I wouldn’t start with that one.”

Dick glances up, blue eyes meeting Jason’s, something in them that Jason is sure is reflected in his own. “Hm?”

“I wouldn’t start with that one. Here.” He grabs a book from the middle of another stack. _Peril at End House._ “You should read this one instead.”

“You’d let me borrow it?”

Jason smiles, making a conscious effort to keep it friendly, and not threatening. “Well, you’ll need something to entertain you on the drive.”

Dick looks up, eyes full of hope, and if he still had an LED, it would have been flashing blue. “You’ll help me, then?”

It’s a dangerous game to play, Jason knows that. If Dick does turn out to be a double agent then he’ll have more trouble on his hands than he’s prepared to deal with, not to mention the trip to Canada alone will cost him far more than money, even if Dick truly is honest.

Maybe it’s because he reminds Jason of Tim. Maybe it’s the stupid sincerity in his stupid, plastic eyes. Maybe it’s Jason’s own heart that’s too soft for its own damn good, which can’t seem to let anyone in need slip away unhelped. Paranoia and pity had always warred within him, and for now, pity wins out.

If Dick is lying, well, he’ll deal with that when it comes to it. For now, Canada.

“Sit down,” he says, surprised when Dick immediately complies. 

Perhaps sensing his suspicion, Dick clarifies with, “I thought it best not to get on the bad side of the man helping me.”

Jason hums but does not answer. Instead, he pulls his laptop from his backpack, sits on the couch—putting a few inches between the two of them—and opens a new tab. Dick peers over, the map on the screen no doubt already accessible in his mind. But Jason likes the visuals, and he’s not going to let the android get away with not knowing the risks.

“First things first,” he says. “The easiest way to cross the border is to head for Quebec City. If you try for Montreal or even Ottawa, it’s pretty much straight north, but too many androids have escaped only to get caught somewhere in New York, so it’s better to weave through the smaller, north-eastern states, especially since their borders aren’t going to be as strict. I’m assuming you know this though, since you’ve caught people escaping through New York before.”

Dick nods, and the look of guilt on his face is almost human.

Jason continues. “We have the added benefit of you knowing all the ins and outs of law enforcement, the methods they use and all that. Also, they don’t have you helping them anymore, which is good. Bad news: they’re probably going to double their efforts to find you, but you probably know that, too.”

“They don’t know I’m deviant yet. That’s an advantage.”

“That is, yes,” Jason agrees. “How long till they find out?”

“Twenty-three minutes,” he says with certainty, and Jason does not doubt it.

“Okay, so basically, we should get a move on it.”

Dick nods.

“So here’s what I’m thinking. We get out of here and take my bike and go find a car we can steal before your twenty-three minutes run out. Then, we drive as fast as we can away from this shithole.”

“I thought there would be more to it than that.” Dick cocks his head again, a gesture that’s almost child-like, and Jason reminds himself that he could still be an enemy. Not much he can do about it now.

“Well, it’s not like you’re giving me much to work with here. We don’t even have an hour to spare, and I have a feeling that once they know about you, it’ll become public fast. We need to get out of here and drive.”

Jason makes it a point not to look at Dick now and instead slides his laptop back into his backpack. They won’t have the time or space to pack much, but a few necessities can’t hurt, so he gathers as much as he can from the table, the kitchen counter, his room. Dick watches, now standing in front of the couch but saying nothing. Jason walks back over to him and grabs the Agatha Christie from his hands, throwing it in last and zipping everything up.

“Let’s go,” he says, and he doesn’t look back to see if Dick follows.

***

Twenty-three minutes later finds them in front of a convenience store parking lot, jacket hoods drawn low over their faces. A screen on a nearby building shows a grainy image of Dick.

The moment they step into the lot Jason grabs Dick’s wrist and pulls him behind a large truck, pressing himself flush against him. He presses a finger to his lips, and Dick’s eyes widen and then narrow. The sound of guards can be heard running past, the word _deviant_ standing out from the rest. But then the footsteps fade, and Jason releases his hold on Dick’s arms and steps back.

“Sorry,” he whispers, and Dick nods, understanding. They make their way through the lines of cars in silence.

Jason stops them at a gray Honda Civic, nondescript enough not to draw attention. He makes quick work of the lock, and then they’re pulling out. Beside him, Dick breathes a sigh of relief from the passenger seat. The first tricky part is over, but they still have to get out of the city, and although Jason knows he has plenty of fake IDs that would normally fool anyone should they get stopped, the paranoia surrounding such an advanced android going deviant is sure to cause problems.

They drive for five minutes, weaving their way through darkened city streets, before Jason breaks the silence.

“We still have to get out of the city.”

Dick tenses. “Yes, I know.”

“Any ideas?”

“Isn’t this your area of expertise?” 

“Look,” Jason says. Hands on the wheel, don’t get angry. “I risked a lot to help you. This is way bigger than anything I’ve done before. Tim was a low-level android who no one would even notice was missing until he was already gone. They’re already hunting you down, and we haven’t even left the city yet, not to mention Wayne’ll be on our tail, even without his little walking database helping him. Is there anything you know that could help us?”

Dick only shakes his head, and Jason just barely refrains from slamming his hands on the wheel.

“We’ll never make it, will we?” Dick points out. Jason wishes he weren’t right.

“Don’t say that.”

“But we won’t. We’re still a good twenty minutes out by car, and you’re right. They’re looking for me specifically.”

“We can make it, Dick.”

“We can’t. Not this way.”

Jason glances at his LED only to remember he’d already torn it out. “Then what do you suggest we do, huh? You were the one who asked me for help, remember? I could just turn around and take you back if I wanted.”

Except he couldn’t. An official alert of Dick’s deviancy has gone out, and there’s no question whether or not he’s lying anymore. Jason can’t just leave him to die. And Dick knows that.

“I don’t know,” Dick says, so quietly Jason almost can’t hear it over the soft sound of the car engine. He looks lost, and maybe he is, having just given up everything he’s ever known and venturing off with a total stranger, trusting that he can help. Jason feels another unwanted surge of pity.

“Let’s just keep driving, okay? I’ve got fake IDs in my backpack, and we’ll deal with the city limits when we come to them.”

Dick doesn’t look remotely satisfied, and to be fair, neither is Jason. But what other choice do they have?

“Why don’t you read or something?” Jason suggests suddenly. “Take your mind off stuff. It’s good we brought that book, huh?”

Dick tilts his head, another almost child-like gesture, and retrieves the book from the backpack, but he doesn’t open it. It lays across his lap, and he looks down, possibly inspecting the cover—or perhaps analyzing it somehow. Maybe he isn’t satisfied with his analysis, because he doesn’t pick it back up.

It only takes them another ten minutes to reach the city limits. Jason will admit to speeding, but Dick didn’t seem to mind, distracted as he is. He slows as the road splits into lanes divided by booths, artificial lighting glaring overhead. The man in the booth is middle-aged and looks it, worn down by years of dull night work, probably in the same booth. His name tag reads Cal.

“Papers,” he says, and Jason reaches over to hand him two specially picked ID cards. Cal looks them over with evident disinterest, holding up Jason’s to compare it with his face for only a moment before seemingly satisfied with the old picture. Then, Jason’s breath catches in his throat as he peers into the car to get a look at Dick. He cannot be allowed to get a good glimpse of his face. Not only is the ID picture blatantly not him, but Dick’s face is surely all over the news by now, and Cal has nothing better to do than watch it all night long.

“He’s sleeping,” Jason whispers, and Dick, who had thankfully been still up until that moment, plays along. His eyes droop closed, and Cal abandons his efforts, handing the cards back. Everything stops. And then the gate lifts.

Jason breathes.

He drives past the limits slowly until the fluorescent lights fade, and then he floors it, matching Dick’s grin. The hard part is over. Now they just have to lay low until they make it to Canada.

Without a word, Dick picks up the book off his lap and begins to read.

Jason keeps driving.

***

They decide to stop for the night somewhere in Vermont. Dick doesn’t need to sleep, or eat for that matter, but Jason makes the executive decision for the both of them that some rest would be beneficial. And so they find themselves pulling into the drive thru of a run down fast food chain off the interstate, and then an even more run down motel. Dick doesn’t say anything, but Jason can tell his HUD is giving him less than satisfactory information by the displeased look on his face.

He walks to the front desk, motioning subtly to Dick to stay behind him. The girl there looks excited in a way that told him they were the most interesting part of her night. It wasn’t like this town got a lot of traffic, and guests probably weren’t common, especially so late at night. “One room, please.”

“Two beds?”

Dick won’t be using his, but there is no need for her to know that. “Sure.”

Keycard and money are exchanged, and soon enough Jason finds himself in the blessed comfort of a ratty bed with what barely qualifies as a comforter. He hadn’t been driving that long, all things considered, but the stress of the trip had made it feel like ages were spent in that car, not to mention his ride-along wasn’t particularly chatty. With nothing to pass the time but anxious thoughts, the dark highway had seemed to stretch on forever. Stopping had been a good idea.

“You need to recharge or anything?” Jason asks, and Dick shakes his head.

“I figured I would read more of your book while you slept, if that’s alright.”

“Uh, sure. How’re you liking it?”

“It’s good,” Dick says, in that contemplative voice of his. “I think I’ve already figured out the killer. I can see why you lent this one to me.”

“Yeah, well, take it as a warning if you want. Wake me in an hour,” he grunts, making note to ask Dick more about the book later, and then he rolls over.

He’s blinking awake what feels like seconds later. Hands are softly shaking his arms, and it takes him a moment to register it’s Dick. The android. That he’s currently helping.

Jason groans and sits up. “Time to go?”

“Yes. We should leave quickly.”

With nothing to pack, they are back on the road in minutes, speeding past empty fields and frozen lakes. It’s not even winter yet, but a chill has already set in, and a thin layer of frost covers the grass, illuminated by the sun peeking its way over the horizon.

“I know how to drive,” Dick says suddenly, breaking the silence.

“Hm?”

“I know how to drive. If you wanted a break.”

Jason hadn’t given Dick much of a choice earlier, walking straight to the driver’s side and taking the wheel. It’s not like he doesn't trust Dick to drive, but he can admit letting someone else be somewhat in control hadn’t crossed his mind.

“Yeah, sure. Next time we stop.”

Dick seems satisfied, and they fall back into a comfortable silence, until— 

“Which Agatha Christie book should I read next?”

“Huh?”

“You like this author, right?” Dick asks, and Jason nods. “Which one should I read next?”

Jason turns his head towards the window so he can roll his eyes. “I dunno.” He doesn’t plan on continuing, but Dick won’t stop looking at him expectantly, so he adds, “ _And Then There Were None_ is a classic. So’s _Murder on the Orient Express._ I read _Three Act Tragedy_ recently, and that one was good, besides the Egg girl.”

“The egg girl?”

“Yeah, her name was Egg, or her nickname was. It was weird. There wasn’t even a good explanation for it, and I’m kinda convinced Christie just really liked eggs or something.”

“Eggatha Christie,” Dick says immediately.

“What?”

“ _Egg_ atha Christie.”

“Yeah, no, I heard that. I just. Was that a pun?” Jason asks, incredulous. “You like stupid puns?”

Dick looks affronted. “I like the play on words.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that the play on words you just made was a stupid pun.”

Dick ducks his head, embarrassed, and mumbles something Jason cannot make out.

“Hey, I never said it wasn’t a funny stupid pun,” he adds, if only to put him out of his misery.

“Do you have any other favorite books?”

It’s an obvious change of topic, but Jason takes it for what it is. He got the chance to see an android blush—something he hadn’t even known was possible—so he’s satisfied. “Yeah, I guess.”

When Jason doesn't continue, Dick asks, “What are they?”

“I dunno. I like _Frankenstein_ a lot. And _The Scarlet Pimpernel._ The _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey,_ _Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice._ Things like that.”

Dick hums. “Those are all very different.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Do I?”

Dick’s head is cocked again, evaluating Jason in a way that seems more human than machine. Blue eyes stare and don’t break away from embarrassment like most would and like Jason does only a moment after they lock eyes. He doesn’t like the way Dick looks at him, assessing and analyzing and most of all _wanting_ to understand. No one has ever wanted to understand him before.

“Yeah, well, once we make it you can read all you want. I’ll even give you a list of good ones if it helps.”

Dick, oddly enough, does not respond to that comment. Maybe he senses Jason’s discomfort, or maybe he decides it’s time for a change of topic, because instead he says, “Tell me how you know Bruce.”

“I don’t.” The answer comes too fast to be believable.

“He’s mentioned you before, you know. In passing. I’m sure he would have denied knowing you, too.”

Jason sighs and focuses on the empty stretch of highway in front of him. Two cars way ahead of him, one way behind. “It’s not important.”

“It could be.”

“It’s not. Besides, if you’ve done your digging you’d know there’s nothing online, because it’s not even that big of a deal. So maybe use some common sense and leave me the hell alone.”

He waits for a response and gets none. _Peril at End House_ is open on Dick’s lap as he rereads the first chapter.

Jason turns on the radio.

***

Two hours later the car breaks down.

“This is not my area of expertise, Jason, as I keep telling you.”

“You’re a robot! Shouldn’t you be good at this shit?”

“I was designed with a specific purpose in mind. A purpose that is not, coincidentally, automobile repair.”

Jason groans and peers under the popped hood yet again. The battery died while they were driving, with just enough time for them to pull off the road, and without another car to help jump it, they were essentially stranded.

“Alright, let’s walk then.”

Dick does a double take that would be comical, if the circumstances were different. “Walk?”

“Yeah, Dickie. Walk. We don’t got no car, and we have someplace to be. We’ll have to walk to the nearest town and find another car there.”

He doesn’t look pleased, but neither is Jason for that matter.

And so they set out of foot. It’s cold, wind stinging their cheeks, but the sun has risen at the very least, offering a small bit of warmth that helps only in the slightest. Dick pulls his borrowed jacket more tightly around him. He’s not shivering—Jason spares a moment to wish he were an android so he didn’t feel the cold so strongly—but allowing his inner mechanism to freeze could potentially be dangerous. Jason remembers the time Tim almost shut down completely as they crossed the lake and how terrifying that had been. They couldn’t let that happen to Dick.

Before he knows it his coat is off and around Dick’s shoulders. “You need it more than I do,” is his only response to the questioning glance sent his way, and Dick doesn’t ask more.

“The nearest town should only be another twenty minutes of walking,” Dick says a moment later, perhaps prompted by Jason’s shivering.

“Learn that from your fancy HUD thing?” Jason bites back. 

“Yes. That’s where I get all my information. You should know that.”

“That’s not— Sorry, I was just—” He huffs a sigh, and Dick doesn’t press. “Sorry to make you walk in the cold. Hopefully we can find someplace to warm up once we make it to civilization.”

“It isn’t your fault. You’ve already done so much.”

“Still,” Jason sighs, “I haven’t been as helpful as I could have. It was different with Tim.”

“Exactly. It was different. That was then, and this is now. You’re operating under completely different circumstances.”

Dick’s eyes are earnest, blue and shining in the glaring sunlight. Jason thinks the longer he looked into those eyes the harder it would be to remember that Dick isn’t really a person. Just because he’s a deviant doesn’t make him human.

When Jason finally dares to glance back at him, Dick is staring straight ahead, eyes trained on buildings in the distance, finally coming into view over the horizon.

They continue their trek for another half hour before they make it, looking every bit the weary, worn travellers they are. They stop at a gas station first, paying for a heap of granola bars and easy snacks, something that gets riskier the more time that passes. Bruce surely knows that Jason has teamed up with his former android by now, and not only are their faces recognizable, but paying for anything leaves a trace.

They’re out of the building within five minutes, and the only thing left to do now is find a new ride. There’s an outlet mall across the street, because those things always seem to be in the middle of nowhere, trying to drum up business in a place that offers none. A small variety of cars sit parked in the closest lot: a Jeep, a couple minivans, two Volkswagen Beetles, a sleek black Tesla—

Jason knows that car; he’s ridden in it more than a few times.

He puts out a hand to stop Dick, who had been walking a few steps behind. “Bruce is here.”

“What?” Dick follows Jason’s gaze to the car and then looks back at the gas station, as if it offers clues. “How did he track us so quickly?”

“I don’t think he got tipped off from that. Most likely he saw our car on the side of the road and then stopped at the nearest town, knowing we’d show up eventually.”

“We need to get out of here.”

“You don’t think I know that?” Jason hisses. He ducks behind a minivan to stay out of view, pulling Dick next to him. Through the tinted windows he can see Bruce just as he exits the mall. He must have thought they’d go there first, which is a small victory on their part.

“C’mon!” Jason grabs Dick’s wrist again and dashes between the cars, pulling at locked door after locked door until he spots a middle-aged woman getting into some kind of Subaru. Not the classiest option, but it’ll get the job done.

He jerks his head towards the car, hoping Dick is even paying attention, and pushes the woman out of the way. She yells something—he registers the word police in some part of his brain—but Jason already has the keys in hand and door shut and locked. Dick slides into the passenger seat, and he guns it.

“Bruce is running towards his car. I think he saw us!” 

“Thank you, the commentary is _really_ necessary, Dick!”

The tires screech as the car skids around a curb. Jason sees Bruce in his rearview mirror, and sure enough, he’s getting into his car.

“He’s going to gain on us!”

“Can you just shut up and let me drive this fucking thing?” Jason yells. He runs the red light out of the mall. Someone lays on their horn, but Jason is only focused on getting back on the highway.

No. Not getting back on the highway. Bruce would be able to tail them forever that way. Jason takes a sharp right turn off the main road, throwing Dick into the window and causing him to swear loudly. In the mirror, Bruce’s car cuts in front of some poor driver to make the same turn.

“You’re basically a GPS, right?” Jason asks, and if had the attention to spare, he’s sure Dick would look terribly offended. As it is, he presses down on the accelerator until Dick finally yells back a yes.

“Alright, I’m gonna try and lose him then. Don’t let me get lost.”

Jason takes his eyes off the road, just for a second, and looks at Dick, who nods solemnly, and yeah, Jason trusts him. With his life, apparently. 

“Take the next right,” Dick says, with just enough time to spare as Jason whips around the corner. Bruce almost misses it and has to take a wide turn last minute, which buys them a little time.

“Okay, now keep going straight for a bit. The trees will get thicker, and there will be a hidden turn on the left.”

Sure enough, the woods around them grow denser as they drive. Jason presses the gas a little harder every time he sees Bruce gaining. 

“When’s the turn?” he grinds out. He can’t miss it. He doesn’t know where the hell Dick is leading him but he can’t miss this turn and let Bruce catch up.

“Coming up,” Dick says slowly. “Coming up… Here!”

Jason sees the small clearing in the trees just in time and cuts a sharp turn. The road is narrow and bumpy, but he sees Bruce miss the turn in his mirror.

“He can still turn around and catch onto us.”

“That’s the point,” Dick says cryptically.

“What the fuck do you mean?”

Bruce is back in the mirror, and his damn car is definitely faster than the crappy Subaru Jason stole.

“I mean that this road dead ends into a lake.”

“What?”

“A lake.”

“Yeah I heard you. But that’s not good, Dick. That’s very not good!”

“Don’t worry. There’s not an actual road around the lake, but what you’re going to do is cut it really sharp right before. Bruce won’t see it coming.”

Jason curses. At Bruce gaining on them, at the outrageousness of it all, at Dick’s almost terrifying mind that he’s glad is being used to help him and not hunt him.

“Fuck, okay, warn me when it’s coming so I don’t kill us both.”

“Don’t worry. I got you, Jason.”

His foot weighs down on the accelerator again. Bruce speeds up behind him. Trees rush past in a dark green blur. One second, two seconds.

Dick’s hand is up, ready to give some kind of signal from the corner of Jason’s eye. The trees are thinning. Something that’s definitely not the road is coming into view and— 

“Now!”

Dick yells, and Jason jerks the wheel as hard as he can, whipping the car around with a dizzying speed. He slams on the breaks just before they ram headfirst into a tree, and with the sudden loss of the engine noise, they can clearly hear the crash of a car hitting water.

Everything pauses, and the forest is still.

Jason lets out a breath. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah,” Dick agrees.

“We need to get out of here.”

“Yeah.”

“What about Bruce? Will he..?”

“He’ll be fine,” Dick assures. “I’ve worked with him long enough. He’ll get out.”

“Okay.”

Jason drives.

***

They don’t stop again, neither of them wanting to voice it, but it works all the same. No one says anything, so no one gives a reason to stop anyways, and they continue up through Vermont, the end coming closer in sight.

Dick doesn’t read, or do much of anything for that matter, and when Jason finally turns the radio on to kill the silence, he doesn’t seem to pay attention to that either.

“We don’t have much longer,” Jason says quietly when they pass another sign with _89 North: Montreal_ on it in big lettering.

“Do you think I made the correct decision?”

Dick’s eyes are closed when Jason looks over. He is perfectly still in his seat, and for a moment he looks like what he is. Completely mechanical and not at all human. When Jason looks closely he can see a difference between the texture of their skin. Dick’s is synthetic, and he wonders if it feels like real skin or something else, maybe plastic. A strong urge to touch suddenly arises in him, but thankfully he can distract himself from that by keeping his hands on the wheel.

“Why would you think you made the wrong one?” Jason finally settles on asking.

Dick opens his eyes. Blue and alive. “Maybe if I’d stayed and pretended not to be a deviant I could have helped others.”

“I thought you said you had twenty minutes before they’d find out. Sounds like you didn’t have much of a choice.”

“I meant before that. The twenty-three minutes was how long it would take for them to find out I’d gone into the CyberLife archives and deleted everything.”

“You what?” Jason does a double take, and Dick has a little smile on his face. 

“I deleted all their files on everything I could find. I’m sure they can recover a large portion of it, but it will set them back.”

Jason can’t stop the feeling of pride that wells up in him at that. It’s such a bold move and something he’d love to have done himself, but hearing that Dick’s final act of disobedience took down CyberLife’s entire operation for who knows how long is almost cathartic, in a way.

He can’t help it. He laughs.

“Jason?”

“You— You deleted—” he gasps out between heaves of laughter, “ _all_ of their shit! Damn, I wish we could’a seen their reaction to that!”

Dick lets out a soft chuckle, and it’s nice, the two of them laughing together. “Yeah, I bet they were pretty pissed.”

The laughter fades and then it’s quiet again and then Dick asks once more, “How do you know Bruce?”

Jason considers not telling him. He’s already made a point of avoiding the topic, and it’s not like it would be out of character for him to evade Dick’s pushing now, but something in him says that maybe Dick deserves to know.

“I used to work for him. Under the radar. It wasn’t an official thing, but since I had a lot of knowledge of what was happening in the city, he would come to me for information. I was instrumental in catching a lot of deviants, even if I wasn’t actually there.”

“Is that why you helped me?” Dick asks quietly.

Jason sighs. “Tim was a coincidence. I ran into him on accident, and if you’d seen the kid, you wouldn’t have been able to say no either. But you? You worked for Bruce, too. And if you’re anything like me, the guilt is eating you alive.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Jason. You said you were feeding him information. He probably would have gotten it with or without your help, you just made it easier for him. He would have caught them anyways.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Dick opens his mouth to argue, but Jason cuts him off with, “You gonna extend yourself the same courtesy? Because as easy as it is to pretend you’re not human, I know you feel just as guilty and responsible as I do.”

“It’s not the same thing.”

“Oh, it’s not, huh?”

“It’s not!” Dick argues. “You were feeding him information that, like I said, he probably could have gotten elsewhere. I was actively working with law enforcement to bring in deviants.

“I talked to them sometimes. I’d convince them that if they just came with me, I’d make sure no harm came to them because I only had their best interests in mind. And then I’d just...hand them over. Watch as they realized that I’d lied. And I didn’t care. Because I was doing my job.”

Jason wishes he weren’t driving so that he could lay a hand on Dick’s shoulder, look him in the eye, hug him, anything to show him he’s not alone. “Dick.”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

“Dick, it’s not like I didn’t know that going in. I knew who you were and what you’d done, and I made a snap decision to trust you anyways.”

“Why?” he asks.

“I’m… I’m not sure. Maybe I thought if you turned on me then I’d deserve it. Maybe I just saw someone desperate and alone, and I wanted to help. I don’t know.”

The silence stretches between them, and neither dares to break it with words that can never be sufficient. Nothing can express Jason’s thoughts, at least, but maybe nothing needs to.

Finally, in a quiet voice Dick says, “I’m glad you did.”

And that is that.

***

Crossing the border is an underwhelming affair. Dick is clearly more invested in whatever song is on the radio, listening to the lyrics as if he’s going to be quizzed later on, and Jason doesn’t notice the bridge until he’s driving across it. He slows to a stop at a tollbooth, not unlike the one with Cal what feels like years ago. They show their identification, but news doesn’t travel this far from Gotham, and Dick’s ID is confirmed without much trouble.

Last time he did this, Jason had to cross a frozen lake with an unconscious RF700 on his back. This is better in more ways than one.

They stop at a hotel, and neither of them brings up what happens next. Jason only agreed to help Dick get to Canada, and it’s not his job to get Dick to the city from here. He’s held up his end of the deal, and their contract has effectively ended, for all intents and purposes. There is no reason for him to stay. Dick has the one, shitty fake ID Jason gave him and the tools to make a better one. He’ll be fine on his own, Jason reminds himself, again and again.

“Do you want to sleep?” Dick asks once they’re alone in the hotel room. “I can be quiet.”

“Nah, I’m honestly kind of wired now.”

Jason doesn’t want to sleep. He doesn’t want to leave. He can’t explain it, but all he wants to do now that he’s here is spend time with Dick. Wants to stay in case Bruce tries to cross the border and bring him back. 

He shouldn’t want to stay. What the fuck is wrong with him?

“You, uh, have any idea about where you’re gonna stay here? I can get you in contact with Tim if you want. He’s in Montreal, but he can probably help you with that.”

Jason looks away when Dick smiles softly and says, “That would be nice. Thank you.”

Dick is standing directly in front of him, and Jason thinks he should sit on the bed or something. It’s awkward just standing and facing each other, right? He should do something. He should pick up his backpack that Dick dropped on the floor. He should— 

Dick is kissing him. There are hands that feel surprisingly warm on his shoulders and lips that feel real on his own, and Jason didn’t know he’d wanted this but now it feels like it had been obvious all along.

They break apart, but Dick’s hands stay on his shoulders, Jason’s on Dick’s waist, even if he doesn’t remember putting them there in the first place.

He wants to say something romantic, but instead what comes out is, “Your lips don’t taste like plastic.”

Dick cocks his head, amused. “Did you think they would? I’m not made of plastic, you know…”

“What are you even made of, then?”

Dick smiles slowly, and Jason has the distinct feeling he just played right into his hands.

“Boyfriend material.”

It startles a laugh out of him, and Jason is hardly coherent enough to ponder the significance of the word boyfriend. He kisses Dick instead, and he doesn’t know what he’s doing or what he’s going to do, but for a moment he can ignore it all for something better.

Canada is pretty nice, he thinks, even if Gotham is his home. He could stay awhile. 

**Author's Note:**

> Mori also has plenty of wonderful fics, and if you're looking for a rec, my personal favorite is [Red Is Also a Color](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20433530/chapters/48476960) because of the way he develops Dick and Jason's relationship in a no capes universe <3


End file.
